I had an interesting exhaust pipe failure while out wheeling the past 4 days at Whipsaw.

The pipe broke off at the flange area where it connects to the exhaust manifold (see circled). There appears to be a weld joining the pipe to the flange part. Just wondering if this is a common failure point. My local exhaust shop believes they can weld it back together for $150 to $200. Just wondering if it would hold up over time? Thoughts please?

(Amazing..... this entire Y-assembly at Rovers North is $2K+!)





Since we were out in the bush, we rigged up a temporary sleeve using beers cans and hose clamps.



Another part of the bush fix, we used a piece of wood held by chicken wire against the cross-member ... fashioned a groove to prop the catalytic converter up. It held up well over the rest of the wheeling trip.

 

Mine failed there this summer as well. Pulled it out, welded it back up and she's chugging along just fine.

 

Nice work on the trail!

Mine broke in the same spot (passenger (US) side) about 5 years ago. I took the Y pipe and flange to a local exhaust shop. $20 and 5 years later - still holding strong.

 

Thanks for confirming re-welding will work.

The bush fix ideas came from one of the guys who is a more experienced mechanic than me

Yeah, it was an interesting evening encouraging my buddies to drink as much beer as possible once we hit camp that early evening. I really needed as many cans as I could rustle up for the sleeve job. They typically stay up till the late hours at campfire. But they only lasted a couple of hours earlier that night. It could be due to a few days of hard wheeling.... or perhaps the beers consumed

 

An update, I got the Disco back from the exhaust shop.

They cut the pipe just after the catalytic converter and unbolted the pipe at the exhaust flange. The broken part was re-welded (first pic below). They then bolted the pipe section back on. The cut section was put back together by welding a sleeve into the area (second pic below). The shop charged 2-1/2 hours for the work.

 

That work looks nice...

Alternatively for others reading this, you can get a new stainless Magnaflow Y pipe with cats way cheaper than the factory option.

I couldn't find anyone who wanted to weld mine so that's what I did... Under $500 if I recall correctly.

 

@acg man Andrew sometimes I think you just have tough luck on those trips, But nice fix, I carry bailing wire and sheet of thin aluminum for weird stuff, but I have never seen that one.

 

From what I've seen and heard over the years, that exact spot is a pretty common failure point.

 

Yes, it has been frustrating. The bright side is we also have had quite a bit of fun and great company even when things are breaking

 

@acg too true, and more hands than you know what to do with helping out